Just like the rest of the population, many LGBTQ people are not religious and many are. But whatever our beliefs, we should resist the dichotomy that Sen. Mark Green presents--his version of Christianity vs. the morality of our existence.

In withdrawing his name from nomination as Secretary of the Army, Sen. Green has put much of the blame on our community. We are blamed for defending ourselves from past attacks. That in itself is ridiculous. Our community didn't pick any fights with Sen. Green. Sorry if I sound like a 5-year-old on a playground, but he started it. There's not a one of us who singled out the senator before he opened his mouth.

You see, no one forced him to run an anti-LGBTQ bill like SB127 (Business License to Discriminate) or sponsor others. And no one forced him to tell a group of people his personal views of transgender people or to frame the discussion in terms of morality.

So we won't accept the blame for the collapse of his nomination because we didn't care one way or the other about him until he attacked us.

And we won't allow him to say that he is speaking for Christianity or that he is defending religious values. Picking on transgender people isn't a commandment or an article of the Nicene Creed or any other important summary of the Christian religion. He can't deflect rightful criticism of his legislative record and his remarks by donning a religious cloak.

Almost 100 clergy (most of them Christian) opposed his SB127 this year. So what do we make of the conflicting interpretations? Sen. Green has the right to call himself a Christian and he has the right to argue that his views are the correct interpretation of the religion. He does not have the right to have it taken for granted by the rest of us that he speaks for Christianity and he does not have the right to make assertions about others without them being challenged.

State lawmakers, take note. You will not be allowed to argue that you represent Christianity and you will not get away with using religion to beat us up with the law.